


not alone

by silver_fish



Category: Tales of Hearts
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 00:44:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19074043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_fish/pseuds/silver_fish
Summary: Comfort can be found even in the loneliest hours of the night. Or, well, Kohaku can be found even in the loneliest hours of the night, but Shing is beginning to think that it all means the same thing anyway.





	not alone

**Author's Note:**

> after all this time i'm finally posting a hearts fic and...it's just a tiny prompt fill from twitter. i just want to put it out there that i absolutely adore this game and its cast. a big thank you [@mahiruhiiragis](https://twitter.com/mahiruhiiragis) on twitter for the prompt! "a kiss as comfort." i hope you enjoy!
> 
> **full disclaimer: my memory isnt the best and its been a while since i played so pls excuse any timeline or characterization mistakes**

It has just been one thing after another.

Shing knows that he signed up for all of this action—very willingly, he might add—but it’s bigger than it was before. Then, it was just a cute girl, her emotions spread across the land, and Shing accidentally at the root of it all with nothing else to do and nowhere else to go.

Now, it is ancient otherworldly beings that have been living within them all this time, completely unbeknownst to him.

Whatever Richea is to Kohaku, Shing knows that he will never be able to understand it. It’s a type of violation, but it’s not, really. It’s not, because Creed was always a part of him, and now—

He’s not.

So, there’s a part of him that’s gone, but it was never really him _anyway_ , and now all that’s left is the guilt and the confusion and the _guilt_ , so much guilt. But he didn’t know, right? It’s not his fault, and yet…

Zex is still gone, and Creed is out there somewhere.

Kohaku tells him she’s glad they let him live, because it made it possible for her to meet him. Perhaps a bit selfishly, Shing finds himself grateful, too. It makes it easier to tell himself and everyone else that this is worth it, and this is what he wants to do, but it doesn’t take away the feelings completely. The guilt, the confusion, the guilt.

It keeps him up at night, though he wishes it wouldn’t.

Truly, he misses Zex. And though he didn’t know her, he misses Dona too. They were his family, weren’t they? And they loved him, did so much for him, but they aren’t here anymore. Their love could not protect him forever.

Was it because he didn’t let it? It feels like it, but he’s not so sure anymore. Dona had seemed so confident in the power of her love for him, but he still wasn’t strong enough to live up to that. And now he is here, restless and afraid and all too aware of the fact that Creed is already ten steps ahead of them.

There’s a lot ahead of them. It has just been one thing after another, with more to come. But even as Hisui protests and Kohaku smiles with that steely resolve of hers and says that they _will_ be the heroes the world needs right now, Shing is tired, and he thinks the others probably are too.

They’ve been on the road again, but they try to stop and rest at inns as often as they can. To keep their energy up, at the very least, though none of them had seemed too bothered by campfires and rollout beds before.

Shing doesn’t _say_ that, though. His mind still buzzing with the events of the past few days throughout the night, he appreciates having a comfortable bed and a safe place to just sit and try very hard not to think.

Tonight, he is taking advantage of the latter point. Just outside of the inn, the air is crisp and fresh, almost enough to make him feel like he might be able to get to sleep within the next few hours. There is an indisputable sense of dread looming over all of them, but, right now, they need their rest, and it doesn’t feel quite so crushing.

He doesn’t know how long he sits out here before the door opens behind him. Slowly turning to look up, he sees Kohaku standing over him.

“It’s late,” she says, redundantly.

She doesn’t wait for him to respond before coming to his side and sitting down.

“Aren’t you tired?” he asks after a long moment.

She shakes her head. “I was worried about you.”

He smiles a bit at that. In the beginning of all of this, Kohaku wasn’t even able to worry about anything at all.

“You haven’t been sleeping,” she says, in such a way that Shing knows she knows she’s right. “It’s hard, isn’t it?”

Maybe Shing isn’t supposed to know what “it” is, in this case. Maybe he is supposed to smile, and say that it’s not hard, actually, because he’s Shing Meteoryte and he can do _anything_.

But the truth is that he doesn’t really think he _can_ do this.

“Yeah,” he says quietly. “It is.”

“But we’re not alone, you know.” When he glances over at her, she is smiling. “You’re not alone.”

He _wants_ to say he knows that.

But he can’t.

Instead, he says, “What do we do when it’s all over?”

Because he doesn’t have someone to return to anymore. Because his family is gone, and in some twisted, convoluted way, it’s his fault.

“I don’t know,” Kohaku admits. “I was sort of… Well, I kind of hoped…”

He frowns. “What?”

Her cheeks redden, and she looks away. “Nothing,” she says quickly. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

He watches her a moment longer, then shakes his head slightly. Reaching over, he puts one hand against her arm. She whirls to face him again so fast Shing can feel the breeze her movement creates against his face.

She takes in a deep breath, and Shing can see it in her eyes: fire, that steely resolve he has come to like so much.

Before he even realizes what she is doing, she leans forward and presses her lips against his forehead. They are warm, soft, but gone all too quickly, and she is looking down at her lap bashfully.

Dazed, Shing asks, “What was that for?”

“You have me,” she whispers, so soft it can’t even be carried by the wind. These words are meant for Shing, and Shing alone.

He blinks, opens his mouth to say something, then closes it as he realizes he has no idea what _to_ say.

Her eyes flick up to him briefly. “We’re not alone,” she says again, hunching her shoulders in slightly. “It’s okay to be scared.”

But warmth is spreading through his chest, all the way down to his toes, and he doesn’t really think he _is_ scared anymore.

His family isn’t gone. They’re right here, and they’ve been right here all along.

“Thanks, Kohaku.” He leans closer to her as she raises her head again, and presses a kiss to her forehead.

When he pulls back, she is smiling up at him.

“What was that for?”

He smiles back.

“You have me, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated! xx


End file.
